


Lucky Shot

by the_faultlines



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Childhood, F/M, Fall Maiko Week 2020, Fluff, Mai is an Awkward Turtleduck, Young Love, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_faultlines/pseuds/the_faultlines
Summary: Following the prompt of day one for maiko week- Childhood. Baby Mai finds her talent through the help of the awkward baby Prince Zuko.
Relationships: Mai & Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47
Collections: Fall Maiko Week 2020





	Lucky Shot

**Author's Note:**

> My fingers were on fire as I tried to finish up this one-shot for maiko week. With my busy schedule of work and school, I wanted to at least have one submission for the ship, but I hope to participate as much as I can. Until then, please enjoy~

Young Prince Zuko stood in the palace courtyard, fiddling with the small blade his uncle had given him from Ba Sing Se. He waved it around wildly, pretending to fight off imaginary opponents.

“Watch what you’re doing Zuzu!” Azula mocked a few feet away. “You could hurt one of us with your butterfingers.”

Zuko grumbled, feeling the steam rise from his head. The excitement from playing with his new gift was gone, sucked away by Azula as per usual. She never ceased to take the opportunity to berate him, like how an older sibling would berate the younger. However, the cards were flipped in his circumstance, with his young prodigy of a sister constantly supplying the snarky comments and remarks.

“Mai, come inside with us to get a snack,” Azula invited, with a tone that made it seem more like an order. Mai, who sat in the shade of the tree feeding the turtle ducks looked up with slight hesitation.

“I’m not hungry,” she replied, feeding the last of the breadcrumbs to the small ducklings that surrounded her. 

“Suit yourself, thief,” Azula chuckled, before running off with Ty Lee to the palace kitchen. Mai blushed in embarrassment, the memory of her act of thievery still fresh in her mind. It had been weeks since Azula convinced her to steal her grandmother’s birthday mochi, and even after she spent days riddled with guilt, the princess still wouldn’t let it go.

That was something both she and Zuko had in common- they were often the targets of Azula’s schemes. 

Out of the trio, Mai was the one Zuko could stand the most. She wasn’t bossy and annoying like his sister and not as overly excited and bubbly as Ty Lee. She was quiet most of the time but opened up a little more when he would complain to her about Azula. She would agree with most of his complaints. He felt easy around Mai like he could tell her anything knowing that she wouldn’t snitch. But then there was the fountain incident, which they hadn’t spoken about since then. In fact, they hadn’t spoken at all.

With the courtyard cleared of Azula and her lackey, Zuko took it as an opportunity to mention the elephant in the room.

He walked up to the young girl, twiddling his fingers awkwardly. 

“Hey, Mai,” Zuko spoke hesitantly, feeling a slight warmth grow on his cheeks. 

“Zuko!” she spoke with a slight surprise, quickly getting to her feet. 

He noticed her brace herself against the tree, with slight fear in her eyes. “Oh, don’t worry,” he chuckled. “I’m not gonna push you into the pond or anything.”

His comment was ill-received, as Mai didn’t seem to find it humorous. 

“I-I want to apologize,” he continued, scratching the back of his neck. “I probably should’ve just swatted the apple off your head instead of running into you.”

The more he thought about it, the more stupid he felt. He really was one for the over dramatics. 

The girl seemed to ease up a little, the fear going away. “It’s alright, I should’ve known Azula would pull something like that.”

They both laughed at the memory now, and how easily fooled they were. 

Then the awkward silence resumed. 

“Hey, do you want to see a trick I learned with my knife?” Zuko asked.

“What kind of trick?” She questioned with a small tone of interest.

Zuko took Mai’s hand with enthusiasm and led her a few feet away from the tree. “I was playing with my knife a few days ago, and when I threw it at the tree, it landed right in the middle of it!”

“That’s...cool,” she spoke hesitantly.

“Don’t worry, it’s completely safe,” he assured.

Zuko found a spot he considered good enough to have a solid throw, Mai watching on with slight anticipation.

“See, you hold it like this,” he explained, holding the hilt of the blade loosely with his fingers. “Then you really have to focus on your target before throwing it.”

The young prince brought the knife in front of him, eyeing his target closely. Then with one big swoop of his arm, he threw the knife forward with intense force. 

_ Clang! _

Instead of having a clean lodge into the bark, it clattered against the trunk, before implanting itself in the dirt below.

“Well not exactly like that,” he blushed embarrassingly, “but you get what I mean.”  He ran over and grabbed the small blade, wiping off the dirt with his cloak. He skipped back and handed the blade to the timid Mai, who took it hesitantly.

“I-I don’t know about this,” she stuttered.

“Don’t be scared Mai, it’ll only hurt you if you let it.”

The girl sucked in a big breath, letting it go before setting her stance.

“Stand up straighter, and have your knife right in front of you,” Zuko corrected, as he fixed her posture. The girl blushed profusely at his small touches, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Now focus,” he whispered, taking a few quiet steps back.

Mai let the world around her fall away, focusing only on the tree and the sound of the wind rustling its leaves. She could hear her breathing in her head, slowly picking up speed as she was ready to throw.

Instead of using her whole arm like Zuko, she bent her elbow back, feeling the steel of the blade near her ear. In a quick movement, she let her forearm fall forward just enough for a small push, the rest of the momentum coming from a slight flick of her wrist. The throw was much more gentle and smooth compared to the young prince’s, the blade sliding effortlessly from her fingers and shooting forward before planting itself solidly into the tree a few feet away.

“Well, that was a lucky shot,” Zuko grumbled, and she could see his face turn red with slight embarrassment.

Mai couldn’t help but smile proudly at her small accomplishment. It may have been a lucky shot, but for a non-bender girl who really had no special talents besides the trivial activities her parents would make her do, this was finally something different- something  _ exciting _ . 

She eagerly asked him to try it again, to which he gave in. Each shot hit the target or most nearly. Every successful throw made her eager to try again, and soon enough, Zuko had left her side, going to sit under the shade of one of the other trees.

Mai noticed his soured mood and ceased her escapades. “I’m sorry I took over,” she apologized, handing him back his blade. 

He eyed the object closely, begrudgingly taking it in his hand. “You’re really good at it,” he spoke. “Almost like a prodigy.”

Mai stiffened at the comment. She knew how sensitive the topic of prodigies was to him. He was constantly being compared to the prodigy that was his sister, and would constantly hear the comment thrown out when he was being scolded for not measuring up to the princess.

The last thing Mai wanted was to be compared to Azula.

“I’m not a prodigy,” she replied, taking a seat in the grass next to him. “I just made a few lucky shots.”

“Yeah,  _ too _ many lucky shots,” he responded coldly. 

Mai pondered what she should say next, biting her lip in thought. “I bet with enough practice I could slice Azula’s topknot clean off.”

That earned a small chuckle from the young prince, but he turned away to conceal it. Mai noticed, however, and her cheeks flushed. “Maybe slice her ego down a step or two while I’m at it.”

“That would be pretty funny,” he admitted, turning to look back at the young girl. 

“Yeah, I can practically hear her now,” Mai chuckled. “I bet she would cry like a baby.”

“If she doesn’t cook you first,” Zuko added, which earned a few chuckles from the girl. They sat there for a few minutes, poking more jokes at the fire nation princess, and laughing about all the made-up schemes they created.

When the laughter eventually died down, they returned to an awkward silence.

“Maybe you could teach me how to throw,” Zuko suggested, his face reddening. “So that we can both mess with Azula.” 

Mai could hear her heart thumping in her ears, and she hoped to Agni that Zuko wasn’t able to see her blush. “Y-Yes! Of course!” she realized how excited she sounded, and immediately retreated. “I mean, yeah, that sounds fun.”

They both looked away from each other, concealing the wide smiles they both had.

“Well,” Mai turned back to face the prince. Let’s get started…”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> oof! I hope this was a cute little fluffy snippet of the kiddos! I studied up a little on knife throwing techniques, so bear with me if it is not accurate.
> 
> Wanna talk maiko, atla, or just random nonsense? You can find me @ the-faultlines on tumblr!


End file.
